Monday, August 2, 2004

GACC CHANGES NAME TO SSAC

Rome, Ga. – The Georgia Alabama Carolina Conference officially became the Southern States Athletic Conference on July 8, 2004 when the Presidents' Council approved the name change.

This change came about after approving membership for Berry College of Rome, Georgia; Lee University of Cleveland, Tennessee; and Columbia College of Columbia, South Carolina. The NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) affiliated athletic conference assumed the new name after admitting the three schools from states surrounding the State of Georgia, where the conference originated.  The additions give the conference fourteen members from Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Commissioner Bill Ensley stated that the conference name change is the 4th in its history.  Six schools in the state of Georgia joined to affiliate with the NAIA and took the name of Georgia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 1949.  The name was changed to Georgia Athletic Conference in the summer of 1993 when the conference expanded to eight members. In 1998, the conference expanded to eleven members and took the name of the Georgia Alabama Carolina Conference, adding schools from South Carolina and Alabama.

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